Clare Balding and Willie Carson present racing coverage from Royal Ascot, one of the premier events in the Flat racing season. Photograph: Scott Heavey/Action Images

Two visions of racing's future are implicit in the news that a "premier league" of racecourses could sell the television rights to the sport's biggest events as a single, maximum-value package from 2013.

One is the status quo, a rollover of the current situation in which TV coverage is split between the BBC and Channel 4. Brought about by inertia and resistance to change, it is a future in which racing carries on surviving, as its audience ages and it continues to fade, ever so slowly, from the sporting public's consciousness.

The other is a radical departure with implications for all areas of the sport. Should the biggest racecourses succeed in bundling up the rights to Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, the Derby, the Grand National, Glorious Goodwood and other major races to sell for a premium price, it would mark an irreversible shift in the balance of power. The theatres – some of them, at any rate – would become more important than the players. Courses outside the "premier league", though, could well emerge from the process as losers – if, indeed, they emerge as racecourses at all.

The concept of a breakaway by the racecourses that control of the most prestigious events in the calendar is not a new one, and came close to fruition nearly 10 years ago following the creation of the so-called "Super 12" group of tracks.

Only now is it a realistic possibility once again. In part, this is because the ongoing Racing For Change programme to modernise the sport already intends to "premierise" the top level to concentrate public attention, but also because 2013 marks a point at which the contracts controlling the media rights of all major tracks will be due for renewal.

Given the innate conservatism of the racing industry, a match race between Radical Proposal and Steady As She Goes will always have the latter as the strong favourite. Add in the vested interests that might be under threat if the big tracks get their way, and the price gets shorter still.

"One of the biggest problems in racing is that the politics of the industry does not force people to work together," a leading expert on sporting media rights said. "It's not the same in football. Arsenal have to play Manchester United, but in racing, it is always much more of a challenge to make sure people get what they need. Even without that background, designing the structure of the [racing] programme so that it has narrative and real meaning to tempt people in will be a very skilled job. If you have your hands tied behind your back before you start, it will be a great deal more difficult.

"If racing could get it right, it could only be good for the long-term health of the sport, but it needs everyone to be involved. For example, horses don't race often enough to see them as a brand to be followed in the same way as a football team, so it would come down to the jockeys and trainers to build the narrative and create a following.

"The idea of packaging racing to sell it as a story always sounds easy, but the risk is always that you fall into the middle ground between what the fans want and what the general public wants. It needs to be done with the whole hearts and minds of the racing industry behind it."

What everyone will ask, of course, if this plan ever reaches the stage of a yes-or-no decision, is: what's my slice? Owners, for instance, will want guarantees about the amount of the television money to be returned to them in prize money. Tracks outside the elite will want to know how – or whether – their revenues will be protected. Jockeys who will be the public face of a "premier league" sport may decide that they deserve "premier league" wages.

A particular concern for many fans would be the fate of "minor league" tracks. Britain's betting shops need a daily programme to keep turnover rolling, but in the age of all-weather racing, there are significantly more racecourses than are necessary to meet that need. If the TV money starts heading entirely to the big tracks, a significant number, including some relatively high-profile venues that do not quite make the top tier, might suddenly find life a struggle.

As many sports fans know, once TV becomes the main driving force, old certainties can quickly disappear. How many top-flight football matches, for instance, now kick off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon? A premier league of racing would be a radical departure, one that might help the sport to reconnect with the general public, but it remains to be seen whether racing has the will, the vision or the courage to commit to it.